Mark 4:40 Why are you so fearful?

Spoken to
Apostles

Jesus is awakened by apostles afraid of a storm.

KJV

Mark 4:40  Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?

NIV

Mark 4:40 Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

LISTENERS HEARD

Why are you cringing? Do you not yet have trust?

MY TAKE

Trust takes time.

GREEK (Each Word Explained Bottom of Page)
GREEK ORDER

Τί     δειλοί      ἐστε;        οὔπω          ἔχετε       πίστιν;
Why cringing  are you ? Not yet Do you have trust?

LOST IN TRANSLATION

This verse is interesting because it demonstrates how mistakes in the KJV are carried forward into more modern translations. The KJV source had several words that today's source does not and mistranslated but rather than create a more accurate version, modern translations made as few corrections as possible.

There is no "so" before the Greek word translated as "fearful," but there is a word, meaning "not yet" that might be mistaken for "so." The word translated as "fearful" isn't the ordinary Greek "full of fear." It also means cowardly in the sense of cringing. It is a more colorful word not just a more extreme one.

There is also no simple negative is today's source, negating "faith." The word is "not yet" and it is an adverb, modifyhing the verb.

# KJV TRANSLATION ISSUES
5
  • IW - Inserted Word -- The word "so" doesn't exist in the source.
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "not yet" is not shown in the English translation. 
  • OS -- Outdated Source -- The Greek word translated as "how" existed in the KJV Greek source but not the source we use today.
  • IP - Inserted Phrase-- The phrase "is it that " doesn't exist in the source.
  • OS -- Outdated Source -- The Greek word translated as "no" existed in the KJV Greek source but not the source we use today.
# NIV TRANSLATION ISSUES
4
  • IW - Inserted Word -- The word "so" doesn't exist in the source.
  • CW --Confusing Word -- The "still" does not capture the word's specific meaning.
  • CW --Confusing Word -- The "no" is not the common word usually translated as "no."
  • WP -- Wrongly Placed -- The word "not yet" doesn't appear here but before the verb.
EACH WORD of KJV

Why  - The word translated as "why" means primarily "anything" or "anyone" but can mean "why" or "what" in show questions. 

are  - The verb "are" here is the common form of "to be" in Greek. It means to have a certain characteristic or remain in a certain condition. It is second person, present, plural.

ye -- This is from the second-person, plural form of the verb.

so -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "so" in the Greek source

fearful  - There are many Greek words that mean "fearful" but this word has sense of low-born, This word is only used by Jesus twice, here and in the parallel in Matthew. The sense seems more like "cringing" giving the word a feeling of being inferior.

missing "not yet"  -- (MW) The untranslated word "not yet" and a strong form of "not" and "not at all."

how  - -- (OS) There is nothing in the Greek that can be translated as "how" in the source we use today but it does exist in the source that the KJV translators used.

is it that -- (IP) There is nothing that can be translated as "is it that " in the Greek source.

ye  -  This comes from the second-person plural form of the verb.

have   - The word translated as "have" means "to possess" or "to keep" but it isn't used in the same way as a "helper" verb that the English "have" is.

no  -- (OS) There is nothing in the Greek that can be translated as "no" in the source we use today but it does exist in the source that the KJV translators used.

faith?  -  The term translated as "faith" is closer to our idea of having confidence or trust in people, especially their word, rather than having religious belief.

EACH WORD of NIV

Why  - The word translated as "why" means primarily "anything" or "anyone" but can mean "why" or "what" in show questions. 

are  - The verb "are" here is the common form of "to be" in Greek. It means to have a certain characteristic or remain in a certain condition. It is second person, present, plural.

you -- This is from the second-person, plural form of the verb.

so -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "so" in the Greek source

fearful  - There are many Greek words that mean "fearful" but this word has sense of low-born, This word is only used by Jesus twice, here and in the parallel in Matthew. The sense seems more like "cringing" giving the word a feeling of being inferior.

 Do -- This English helping verb is used to create questions, commands, negative statements, and smooth word flow in translation from Greek

you -  This comes from the second-person plural form of the verb.

still -- (CW) This is derived from the negative used.

have   - The word translated as "have" means "to possess" or "to keep" but it isn't used in the same way as a "helper" verb that the English "have" is.

no -- -- (CW, WP) "No" is an adverb that means "not yet" and a strong form of "not" and "not at all." It is not the common Greek negative but a specific one.  This adverb begins the sentence. It doesn't modify "fear."

faith? -  The term translated as "faith" is closer to our idea of having confidence or trust in people, especially their word, rather than having religious belief.

COMPARISON: GREEK to KJV

Τί [252 verses](irreg sg neut nom) "Why" is tis which can mean "someone", "any one", "everyone", "they [indefinite]", "many a one", "whoever", "anyone", "anything", "some sort", "some sort of", "each", "any", "the individual", "such," and so on. In a question, it can mean "who", "why," or "what."

δειλοί [2 verses](adj pl masc nom) "Fearful" is deilos, which means "cowardly", "miserable", "wretched", "low-born," and "poor." There are other Greek words that mean fearful,  for example deidêmôn. without the sense of being low-born. Like the Hebrew word for fearful, yare'.

ἐστε; [614 verses](verb 2nd pl pres ind act) "Are ye" is eimi, which means "to be", "to exist", "to be the case," and "is possible." (The future form is esomai. The 3rd person present indicative is "esti.") --

οὔπω [9 verses](adv) "How" is from oupo, which means "not yet" and a strong form of "not" and "not at all."

ἔχετε  [3 verses] (verb 2nd pl pres ind act) "That ye have" is echo, which means "to have", "to hold", "to possess", "to keep", "to have charge of", "to maintain", "to hold fast", "to bear", "to carry", "to keep close", "to keep safe," and "to have means to do." --

πίστιν  [26 verses] (noun sg fem acc) "Faith" is from pistis, which means "confidence", "assurance", "trustworthiness", "credit", "a trust," and "that which give confidence."

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